Our Team

As NameStormers grew in 2022, we needed a sharp, resourceful operations director to help us scale while maintaining the quality of our services. Ashley was hired.

With a bachelors in education and a master’s in English-linguistics, Ashley brings deep language understanding, meaning, and cultural nuance to the naming process.

Her experience teaching English to the Deaf community using American Sign Language and working as an instructional designer has strengthened her ability to think visually and communicate with clarity—skills that translate well to helping clients navigate the creative and strategic aspects of branding.

Ashley brings a rich and diverse background to our team. She is an Oklahoma Indigenous native (Choctaw) and she and her husband are raising two energetic, small children. Her hobbies include beadwork, basketball, and books!

With a generous heart and a spirit of service, she volunteers her time with her church, with NameStormers’ nonprofit partner J13.org and as a certified ASL interpreter. When does she sleep?

In 1986, Mike started creating brand names with 3 other guys.

They failed spectacularly.

Don’t believe it? They called their company Salinon. Catchy, right? Well… not exactly a barnburner.

Eventually, they started to get it …

• Hard cider wasn’t even a “thing” until helping Boston Beer launch Angry Orchard.
• Circuit City went under, but the CarMax name NameStormers created lasted and thrived.
• And Hilton? They weren’t exactly resonating with millennials — until helping them roll out Tru by Hilton.

Today, Mike works alongside a sharp, talented (and way younger) team of creatives, trademark pros, linguists, and researchers.

NameStormers creates some pretty zany names and others with some serious gravitas.

And we don’t just guess what works — we test names with real people, often hundreds of your actual customers, to make sure your darling isn’t a dud.

Mike loves naming. He and NameStormers would love to help you find yours.

And most of our profit goes towards J13.org. J13 is a nonprofit that is all about helping profoundly autistic adults find jobs and lead joyful and purposeful lives. So check it out.

If you want to know more about his story…

• He started his  entrepreneurial career at 12 in the lawn business with a $75 used riding lawnmower.
• In college, he launched a school supply and check-cashing business and bought his first condo at 19.
• After a stint writing code for Dr Pepper and six years at a Nielsen subsidiary, he  co-founded what eventually became NameStormers in 1985.
• Mike has been featured on CNBC, quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other outlets for insights on naming and branding.

Outside of work, he and his wife co-founded John 13 (J13) and Autism Labs — the former helps severely autistic adults thrive after school ends at 22, and the latter is a platform for sharing reviews of the most effective therapies and technologies for profound autism. They are also writing a book to guide parents through that post-school transition.

Personally? He been married to the same amazing woman for over 45 years. He has two adult kids: an incredible daughter, now a university professor, and his ever-amazing 35-year-old son, who is severely autistic and very cool.

In the 1990s, Mike spun NameStormers off from Salinon, and Kay joined him. At the time, they thought naming software was the future. But it didn’t take long to realize most clients didn’t want to do the work themselves. They wanted a creative partner to do the heavy lifting with them.

From there, Mike and Kay discovered that clients often struggled with final name decisions. So they began offering name testing services, starting with traditional 20-minute surveys. Over time, real-time moderator interactions were added looking for better ways to capture what really resonates.

Kay’s background is a bit unconventional for naming. She studied systems engineering, but was always drawn to language. When younger, she enjoyed many types of creative writing and was on a UIL spelling team. Her idea of a dream career was writing Hallmark greeting cards.

She began college as a piano major before studying engineering. After graduation, She really did interview at Hallmark!

That mix of logic and language has served her well at NameStormers. She handles our IT and market research. She relishes a good high-tech naming challenge or an unexpected consumer insights anomaly, especially when it brings together creativity and complexity.

Mike and Kay co-founded a nonprofit program J13.org for individuals like their son who are often overlooked by traditional disability-focused organizations. Through J13.org, they are helping create a space where individuals with autism and more severe behaviors can connect, grow, and thrive.

There’s detail-oriented… and then there’s Dustin! With a knack for spotting what others overlook, he brings precision, logic and thorough understanding to everything he touches.

Dustin has worked with NameStormers for over 6 years as our senior trademark screening and market research analyst on projects ranging from clothing to space exploration to AI to consumer goods. A proud introvert, the behind-the-scenes trademark screening and research analysis suits him well vs. the more client-facing activities.

As a self-described “90% introvert,” Dustin thrives behind the scenes, where trademark screening suits him well. While others may find data tedious, he finds it enjoyable.

Outside of NameStormers, Dustin is a lifelong fan of movies, TV shows, and video games. He dabbles in creative writing and home video production, and he’s currently captivated by the  evolution of AI—especially its practical applications and the creative potential it can unlock. 

Behind every growing organization is a capable assistant making sure the details are handled. Ivy is that assistant.

Hailing from the Philippines, Ivy is the glue that holds all the details together. From social media management to podcast editing, her efficiency and sharp eye for detail help keep the NameStormers team running smoothly.

Outside of work, Ivy trades spreadsheets for headsets. She’s a passionate gamer who loves the fast-paced action of Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone, where her tactical mind really shines.

She’s also a proud cat mom to four fur babies—with a soft spot for each with their own quirks and routines.

In 2020, Cierra joined our team, bringing fresh perspective and thoughtful creativity. She’s got the eye and the ideas for logo design.

Cierra is an Austinite with a BFA in Communication Design from Texas State University. For over a decade, she’s been immersed in marketing and design, bringing concepts to life through both pixels and print.

Her career spans major media networks like KVUE and Community Impact News, as well as a variety of creative agencies, where she thrived as a freelance designer and web developer.